Sherlock Co-Creator Just Brought Holmes Back In a Surprising Way

Sherlock co-creator Mark Gatiss returned to the world of Arthur Conan Doyle for his annual Christmas ghost story for the BBC. Gatiss wrote a new adaptation of Conan Doyle's Lot No. 249, which starred Kit Harington (Game of Thrones) and Freddie Fox (Slow Horses). While the original Lot No. 249 had no connection to Sherlock Holmes, Gatiss decided to give the beloved detective a cameo in his version of the story. In Gatiss' version, a Reverend from the original story who was friends with Abercrombie Smith (Harington) is replaced with a pipe-smoking "consultant" who talks about moving to London's Baker Street. Of course, this could only refer to one person... 

"I couldn't resist," Gatiss told RadioTimes.com when asked about the Sherlock cameo. "In the story, his friend is called the Reverend Plumtree Peterson – with a name like that, [the character] promises a great deal and then doesn't really do much... and I just thought, 'Oh, I know!.'"

"In the original script, Smith says 'It won't do, Holmes, it really won't.' – and I thought, no, I'm not going to say it's definitely him," Gatiss explained of the ambiguous cameo. In this version of the story, the character is credited as "The Friend," and is played by actor John Heffernan. Gatiss went on to reveal that he cast Heffernan in the role partly because he looks like the Sherlock Holmes sketches made by Sidney Paget.

"He looks like the Paget, doesn't he?" Gatiss said. "He just leapt into my head."

Will Sherlock Get a Season 5?

Sherlock starred Benedict Cumberbatch in the titular role alongside Martin Freeman's John Watson. The show's fourth season came to an end in 2017, and there have been no plans for a revival. However, Sherlock's co-creator, Steven Moffat, recently told Deadline that he would return to the series if the cast came back.

"They're on to bigger and better things but, Martin and Benedict, 'please come back?'," Moffat shared with a laugh. 

A few years ago, Cumberbatch spoke to Esquire about the possibility of picking up where they left off. 

"Oh look, I still say never say never. You know, I really like that character… it's just, the circumstances need to be right and I think maybe it's too soon now to see it have another life," the star said. "I think, wonderful as it is, it's had its moment for now. But that's not to say it wouldn't have another iteration in the future."

A Ghost Story for Christmas: Lot No. 249 is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.